A day in Dublin
4:09 PM
Dublin was not what I expected. I thought that it was just going to be a normal cosmopolitan city that I could just walk around for a few hours before catching my evening flight to Edinburgh... but who knew I would enjoy the city so much... and see so much in just one day... and feel like coming back after just one day...So having done research before, I purchased the Dublin card which is like this touristy card... see 3 tourist attractions and you already save money, and I was pretty confident that I could see 3 tourist attractions in 1 day... so after havnig left my luggage in the locker room at the airport, off I went. The map I had was pretty hard to navigate, so I figured that I probably walked around more than i was supposed to, but oh well....
First of, I went to St Patrick's Cathedral.... named after St Patrick, but more famously known around the world for St Patrick's Day- The day when everyone dresses up in green and drinks guinness
I found this quite cute. They have unique mats for everyone to kneel on during service.
Choir Stands. I actually got a chance to listen to the schoolboy choir have their daily practice when I was in church. It reminded me a little of Westminster Abbey who have a similar design for the choir in their church as well.
Chair used by King William III when he came to St Patrick's to give thanks to god over his victory over King James at the battle of Boyne, 1690.
Bell made in memory of the Huguenots who came to Dublin
Next stop. Christ Church Cathedral. Dublin's oldest building and the mother church of the dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough in the church of Ireland.
The crypt of Christ church cathedral, dating from the late 12th century, is the oldest structure in dublin and one of the largestmedieval crypts in either Britain or Ireland. It is 63.4m long and carries the entire weight of the cathedral and the central tower...there's a funny display/story concerning a mummified cat and rat, which was found trapped in the organ pipe in the 1860s. Cat chases rat. Rat runs into organ pipe. Gets stuck. Cat follows and gets stuck too. So with all the hot air piping through the pipe, they die and slowly get preserved over the years... pretty gross and wierd at the same time that they still want to display it..
Ruins of the old chapter house outside the cathedral
Free Tour!!! I really loved this free tour, and it only just started recently in dublin, and it is basically a 3 hour walking tour around the city while a guide explains to you the history and significance of the town buildings for free! You just tip him at the end if you were happy with it and none if you were not.
City Hall
Dublin Castle: founded by the Normans and symbolized British power over Ireland for 700 years. One can go for a tour in the castle in the state apartments, and excavations inthe undercroft, where norman and viking dublin are visible. Nearby the castle, there is an area where viking villages were discovered underground in the 80s or 90s... it was a huge archaeological find. However back then, there were plans to build a government building on the exact piece of land and the government failed to realize the significance of such a find. So today... the viking villages still remain preserved under that government building.... The Chester Beatty Library is nearby, which is also said to have the second largest number of Islamic Manuscipts in the world... funny huh...
Statue of Justice statue with a number of problems. One... it's back is to the city of Dublin, two, it's eyes are open... 3. It's scales are not built evenly, so when it rains it actually tilts to one side. As a result this statue of Justice is said to represent British Justice to the Irish. Dear British readers, please do not strike me. I'm just repeating when I heard from the guide :)
Prison Tower of Dublin Castle.
The Green patch of ground you see is where all the important VIP helicopters land when they visit Dublin (eg. politicians) hence the funny lights at the end..
The coloured buildings are actually the government state buildings. It's where important political matters take place. There is no special reasons for the colourful buildings....
Behind Dublin Castle
Outside Christ Church Cathedral again
Our tour guide playing an irish tune on a tin flute. Back then, the only metal that was abundant in Ireland was tin, as it is a pretty soft metal and the British were scared of giving Ireland too much steel /iron for fear that they would make weapons with it.... so the Irish had to be rather creative when it came to making metal objects...
Temple street.... this is where all the bars/pubs are... so at night it's a pretty lively place.. this is also where U2 first debuted and made their fortunes...
The hotel behind the guide is owned by U2. Back in the days, they used to come here for a drink after gigs, and they had a dream to buy this hotel when they made it big and now it's come true :)
Tribute to one of the best known guitarists: Rory Gallagher. The reason why the guitar is so high up on the wall is so that people will stop stealing it :)
Heineken Building!
Liffey Bridge! When it first opened, pple had to pay just to cross the bridge and there was no return ticket.
This plaque commemorating this Pat person is actually a fake. And was put in by some pranksters a couple of years back. Best part, the town council did not find out about it till two years after the joke was made. By then, it had become such a well known secret that it was left as it is... but don't believe this!!!
Behind, you can see the tall tall sculpture built to celebrate the millenium but only completed in 2004... and has no meaning/significance whatsoever
Trinity College... it'a very nice campus, and I really enjoyed walking around it. Founded in 1592, Trinity college played a major role in the development of protestant anglo-irish tradition: right up to 1966, catholics had to obtain a special dispensation to study here,. The Book of Kells is located in the College library. The Book of Kells dates from the 9th century and the book of manuscipts is very pretty and its pretty amazing that it's managed to be preserved for so long...
Last stop of the day: Jameson Whisky Distillery
The barrels in which the whisky is kept for it to age..
Whiskey tasting! I'm quite proud to say that I now know the different between Irish/Scottish and American whisky.
Irish whisky - Jameson (Distilled 3 times, compared to other whisky brands, which are usually distilled at most 3 times. As such, it has a much smoother taste)
Scotish Whisky - Johnnie Walker (Distinctly known for its smoky/peaty undertone)
American Whisky - Jack Daniels. (World's best selling whisky and is sweeter compared to other whisky. This is because it is made from corn grain and not peat grain which is a sweeter plant... hence the natural sweetness)
Waiting for the bus to the airport. And while so.... I witness an interesting strike! Apparently, there has been this ruling that all the taxis in the city are not happy about. So that particular afternoon, all the taxis ( i felt it was) in the taxi drove up and down VERY VERY SLOWLY on opposite sites on the road, not only holding up traffic, but they were also horning and horning continously!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was amusing at first to watch, but later it just got so annoying, I was so relieved when I finally got onto the bus.
I really enjoyed Dublin!!! Even though I was only there for a day!!!! It looks so modern, but it definitely has a lot of history in it... And I definitely recommend the free tour!!!!
First of, I went to St Patrick's Cathedral.... named after St Patrick, but more famously known around the world for St Patrick's Day- The day when everyone dresses up in green and drinks guinness
I found this quite cute. They have unique mats for everyone to kneel on during service.
Choir Stands. I actually got a chance to listen to the schoolboy choir have their daily practice when I was in church. It reminded me a little of Westminster Abbey who have a similar design for the choir in their church as well.
Chair used by King William III when he came to St Patrick's to give thanks to god over his victory over King James at the battle of Boyne, 1690.
Bell made in memory of the Huguenots who came to Dublin
Next stop. Christ Church Cathedral. Dublin's oldest building and the mother church of the dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough in the church of Ireland.
The crypt of Christ church cathedral, dating from the late 12th century, is the oldest structure in dublin and one of the largestmedieval crypts in either Britain or Ireland. It is 63.4m long and carries the entire weight of the cathedral and the central tower...there's a funny display/story concerning a mummified cat and rat, which was found trapped in the organ pipe in the 1860s. Cat chases rat. Rat runs into organ pipe. Gets stuck. Cat follows and gets stuck too. So with all the hot air piping through the pipe, they die and slowly get preserved over the years... pretty gross and wierd at the same time that they still want to display it..
Ruins of the old chapter house outside the cathedral
Free Tour!!! I really loved this free tour, and it only just started recently in dublin, and it is basically a 3 hour walking tour around the city while a guide explains to you the history and significance of the town buildings for free! You just tip him at the end if you were happy with it and none if you were not.
City Hall
Dublin Castle: founded by the Normans and symbolized British power over Ireland for 700 years. One can go for a tour in the castle in the state apartments, and excavations inthe undercroft, where norman and viking dublin are visible. Nearby the castle, there is an area where viking villages were discovered underground in the 80s or 90s... it was a huge archaeological find. However back then, there were plans to build a government building on the exact piece of land and the government failed to realize the significance of such a find. So today... the viking villages still remain preserved under that government building.... The Chester Beatty Library is nearby, which is also said to have the second largest number of Islamic Manuscipts in the world... funny huh...
Statue of Justice statue with a number of problems. One... it's back is to the city of Dublin, two, it's eyes are open... 3. It's scales are not built evenly, so when it rains it actually tilts to one side. As a result this statue of Justice is said to represent British Justice to the Irish. Dear British readers, please do not strike me. I'm just repeating when I heard from the guide :)
Prison Tower of Dublin Castle.
The Green patch of ground you see is where all the important VIP helicopters land when they visit Dublin (eg. politicians) hence the funny lights at the end..
The coloured buildings are actually the government state buildings. It's where important political matters take place. There is no special reasons for the colourful buildings....
Behind Dublin Castle
Outside Christ Church Cathedral again
Our tour guide playing an irish tune on a tin flute. Back then, the only metal that was abundant in Ireland was tin, as it is a pretty soft metal and the British were scared of giving Ireland too much steel /iron for fear that they would make weapons with it.... so the Irish had to be rather creative when it came to making metal objects...
Temple street.... this is where all the bars/pubs are... so at night it's a pretty lively place.. this is also where U2 first debuted and made their fortunes...
The hotel behind the guide is owned by U2. Back in the days, they used to come here for a drink after gigs, and they had a dream to buy this hotel when they made it big and now it's come true :)
Tribute to one of the best known guitarists: Rory Gallagher. The reason why the guitar is so high up on the wall is so that people will stop stealing it :)
Heineken Building!
Liffey Bridge! When it first opened, pple had to pay just to cross the bridge and there was no return ticket.
This plaque commemorating this Pat person is actually a fake. And was put in by some pranksters a couple of years back. Best part, the town council did not find out about it till two years after the joke was made. By then, it had become such a well known secret that it was left as it is... but don't believe this!!!
Behind, you can see the tall tall sculpture built to celebrate the millenium but only completed in 2004... and has no meaning/significance whatsoever
Trinity College... it'a very nice campus, and I really enjoyed walking around it. Founded in 1592, Trinity college played a major role in the development of protestant anglo-irish tradition: right up to 1966, catholics had to obtain a special dispensation to study here,. The Book of Kells is located in the College library. The Book of Kells dates from the 9th century and the book of manuscipts is very pretty and its pretty amazing that it's managed to be preserved for so long...
Last stop of the day: Jameson Whisky Distillery
The barrels in which the whisky is kept for it to age..
Whiskey tasting! I'm quite proud to say that I now know the different between Irish/Scottish and American whisky.
Irish whisky - Jameson (Distilled 3 times, compared to other whisky brands, which are usually distilled at most 3 times. As such, it has a much smoother taste)
Scotish Whisky - Johnnie Walker (Distinctly known for its smoky/peaty undertone)
American Whisky - Jack Daniels. (World's best selling whisky and is sweeter compared to other whisky. This is because it is made from corn grain and not peat grain which is a sweeter plant... hence the natural sweetness)
Waiting for the bus to the airport. And while so.... I witness an interesting strike! Apparently, there has been this ruling that all the taxis in the city are not happy about. So that particular afternoon, all the taxis ( i felt it was) in the taxi drove up and down VERY VERY SLOWLY on opposite sites on the road, not only holding up traffic, but they were also horning and horning continously!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was amusing at first to watch, but later it just got so annoying, I was so relieved when I finally got onto the bus.
I really enjoyed Dublin!!! Even though I was only there for a day!!!! It looks so modern, but it definitely has a lot of history in it... And I definitely recommend the free tour!!!!